Obama dinner lottery: Reviving fund-raising gimmick

WASHINGTON--Through texts and e-mails on Wednesday, President Obama made a pitch for three backers to have dinner with him--that is, donate at least $5 to his campaign and get entered into a lottery to win the meal. Obama used this tactic in 2008 to target low dollar donors. High end folks pay up to $35,800 for face time with Obama at fund-raising dinners.

Winners get free airfare.

Said Obama about the donor dinner lottery: "If this sounds a bit familiar to you, it's because we've done this before. In fact, my hope is that I'll be able to keep doing these dinners throughout the campaign.

"They're a chance for me to talk one on one with people like you who are taking ownership of this campaign and connect with the work going on every day in neighborhoods across the country.

These dinners also set our campaign apart. No matter what our opponents do over the next 14 months, dinners like these are how we will continue to put people at the heart of this campaign -- and prove that we don't need checks from Washington lobbyists or special-interest PAC money to win an election. We can do it person to person, in our neighborhoods and backyards, and over the dinner table."